The Member of Parliament for Dafiama-Bussie-Issa Dr. Sebastien Sandaare is requesting urgent action from the Ghana Health Service to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in his constituency considered as one of the hotspots in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa.
Speaking to the press in Parliament, Dr. Sandaare underscored the need for the Health Service to act with dispatch by vaccinating the susceptible population in the constituency.
“My interaction has revealed that the first vaccination was just limited to the health workers. People who are at risk or with pre-existing conditions, the elderly, did not receive the vaccines. That is a problem and a worry now because if the situation as we see escalates, then it means that all those people are at very high risk. I will plead with the GHS that they should take action in the area of vaccination in the community, while I plead with my people to comply with the COVID-protocols.”
Residents in parts of the country have criticized the GHS over the unavailability of vaccines in theirs during the first and second rounds of inoculation exercise, although they have also been described as a hotspot.
But Programs Manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunization at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano however, says priority will be given to frontline health workers and vulnerable persons.
Ghana is seeking to vaccinate 20 million of its population against COVID-19 by the end of 2021.
177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine under the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust initiative were administered to unvaccinated persons in COVID-19 hotspots in the Greater Accra Region and the Ashanti Region.
Before the latest round of vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, only 405,971 had received both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines whilst 865,422 had received one dose.
However, the country is currently vaccinating Ghanaians due to receive their second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines.
The government took delivery of 1,229,620 Moderna vaccines on Saturday, 4th September 2021.
An additional 1.3 million Pfizer vaccines are also expected in Ghana by the end of this month, according to the Ministry of Information.